Is .223 Enough For Deer?

[interlock]

.223 for deer... no thankyou

I believe that a .223 will kill deer with an appropriate bullet it would be ok. However there are far better tools for the job. In my experience smaller calibres mean more tracking. i tracked more deer with my .243 win than i do with my 7mm08 or .30-06 sprg. I don't take ropey or questionable shots and i am a pretty profficient shot. I found that the .243 with light and fast bullets was more carcass damaging and that sometimes i would open up a deer that had run 200 yards and find the top of the heart destroyed. this does not seem to be the case with 7mm08 and 30-06. IN MY EXPERIENCE.

All this being said i would if i only had a .223 and it was legal hunt deer with it. I would. I would use 60 gr partitions. And i would have a damned good time doing it too.

interlock

 

[chas08]

maybe, but I don't know where it is legal to hunt with .223.

Texas, for one state that it's legal. I've taken several deer and hogs with a .223(all the hogs were head shots) and haven't lost one yet. But I feel it is only adequate in the right pair of hands and not in the over all sense. You must know your and the guns limitations regardless of caliber. My prefered deer gun is a 7mm08. I'd hate to pass a trophy of a lifetime at 350-400yds because I didn't bring enough gun.

 

[MCgunner]

I prefer bigger calibers. I mean, it ain't like a .243 has any recoil if that's the problem. Texas deer are small. .22-250 is very popular and takes a good number of deer every year. I don't see that it's a perfect choice and I don't own one, but it will work. Deer here, though, rarely dress out more than about 125 lbs. That's a big buck. Seems to me, the biggest number of people wanting to shoot .223 are the folks that have an AR and just want to use it for SOMEthing other than waiting on the zombies to show up. I've been thinking about an AR if I had the money, and I don't, but they have these Remingtons, camoed, real cool looking, at Academy, and they come in real hunting calibers like .243 and .308. For the tacticool crowd, .308 is a military round and for me, I'm already reloading for it. But, the danged thing is 1500 bucks. I can buy a lot with 1500 bucks, or pay my friggin' property taxes when they come due...

 

[phantomak47]

NO , these threads are becoming weekly

 

[pmeisel]

Why would you want to? Maybe if that's all you have; otherwise why not use something more suitable?

 

[MCgunner]

Why would you want to? Maybe if that's all you have; otherwise why not use something more suitable?

I think it's about owning an AR15 and getting bored with paper targets, just a theory. Like I say, there are ARs in .243 and .308 now. The AR10 has been around a while, but they were shooting one of those DPMS Panther arms ARs in .243 on an Outdoor channel show the other day. There's you a light recoil hunting round made to order in an AR platform if .308 intimidates you.

 

[Nicky Santoro]

Is .223 Enough For Deer?

My experience is limited to one deer. It was a spike buck at about 50 yards with a 64gr Power Point from a Mini-14. The shot (not by me) placement was perfect, and he piled up after about 5 steps. The moral of the story is that it is enough for deer but within certain limitations.

 

[alaskanativeson]

Put me down in the camp that says it's wrong to use a .223 on deer. Too small, too light, too much chance for something to go wrong.

Does a hell of a good job on coyotes, though.

 

[moooose102]

can it be done, well, i guess. you can also kill an elephant with a stick (aka, fred bear), but would you want to? to me, it is rather unethical to try and kill any animal with a marginal weapon. a deer, at 200 yards with a 223, is definitly a marginal condition. at 100 yards, with the correct bullet, AND an expert marksman would be the limit imo. but unless it was a survival issue, i just wouldnt use a 223 on a deer. period. i have other weapons that will dispatch a deer more humanly, quickly, and effectively.